


Systematic Love

by Mogi



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), M/M, Robot/Human Relationships, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-03-27 00:58:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13869699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mogi/pseuds/Mogi
Summary: Teenage years are difficult for everyone, but they might be an even more confusing time for a teenage robot. Kiibo goes on a journey of self-discovery and finds the lair of a hoarder, classmates and upperclassmen with many opinions, the reason for his creation and the definition of love.





	1. Sick Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> I haven’t written a fic with multiple chapters since 2012, but this will be my best attempt at giving Kokichi and Kiibo and the character development and happiness they deserve in this non-despair AU! More tags will be added to this fic as the story progresses.
> 
> [Update: this fanfic will be on hiatus for a while. I kind of lost my motivation to write for it, but I do want to continue writing it at some point.]

“Kiibo-kun?”

Akamatsu’s voice registered with him. Kiibo sheepishly closed his notebook as he looked up to lock eyes with the Ultimate Pianist.

“I was wondering if I could ask a favour of you as the class representative.”

The gentle smile on her face was no match for the wide grin that appeared on Kiibo’s face at being asked that question. It wasn’t every day that Akamatsu came to ask a favour of him!

“Of course!” Kiibo beamed. “Ask me anything. I will be happy to help as long as your request falls within my capabilities.”

Akamatsu put her hands together, signalling with her body language that was she was about to ask Kiibo something she couldn’t just ask anyone. “You might have noticed that Ouma-kun is absent today. Tsumiki-san told me that he is terribly ill, this time for real… it seems. I wanted to ask you to visit him today to see how he is doing and to share your notes with him.”

Of course, Kiibo had noticed Ouma’s absence. He hadn’t known this peace since arriving at Hope’s Peak Academy. In just a few months’ time, he had been dubbed Ouma’s favourite punching bag. A metaphorical punching bag, that is. The one time Ouma had punched him to surprise him, the Ultimate Supreme Leader had exposed Kiibo to some rather foul language.

“I suppose… I could…..” Kiibo mumbled, his gaze settling on Ouma’s empty desk at the front of the classroom. Ouma had been moved there recently so that the teachers could keep a better eye on him. It wasn’t an improvement. If anything he was more of a headache in the front than in the back. “Why ask me?”

Akamatsu’s smile wavered slightly as she thought of the best way to put her thoughts into words.

“You’re the only one who could be around him and not get sick also. I would greatly appreciate it if you could go, but if you’re not feeling like it I will go instead.”

Ah… Of course. Kiibo would be lying if he said that explanation didn’t hurt a little. Akamatsu was right. Whatever virus Ouma had come down with would have no effect on Kiibo. Asking him to do this favour was the obvious choice, but it would have been nice if Akamatsu had needed him for something else than his inhumanity.

“Alright. I shall pay him a visit after class.”

“Thank you so much, Kiibo-kun.”

Akamatsu offered him one last smile before she turned around and rejoined the girls. All of them were having lunch together, discussing things Kiibo had no knowledge off as they traded cutely cut bento box food items with each other. Even Harukawa, who had kept her distance in the beginning, was quietly sitting with the other girls during lunch. Kiibo detected a hint of a smile on her face as Akamatsu came to sit next to her again.

The boys were more evenly spread through the classroom during lunch break. Momota had moved his desk together with Saihara’s and was loudly talking about his future plans as Saihara nodded and chewed thoughtfully. Gokuhara and Hoshi were also sitting together, but their conversation wasn’t intelligible over the other conversations in the classroom. If Kiibo had to guess what their conversation was about, however, he would say they were probably talking about the tiny ladybug sitting happily on the tip of Gokuhara’s massive pinkie.

Shinguji was sitting alone. This was mostly to blame on the fact that Amami was abroad at the moment. Not that the Ultimate Anthropologist seemed to mind having no conversation partner. Just like Kiibo he was observing the others, although Shinguji clearly was avoiding looking at him. Shinguji’s disinterest in Kiibo had been apparent to him from day one.

With nobody paying Kiibo any mind (not even Iruma as she was in the middle of “voring” her lunch as she would say, whatever that meant), Kiibo was left alone with the scribbles in his notebook. He glanced once more at Ouma’s empty desk before he opened his notebook on the last page. Resting his head on the palm of his hand he looked over his drawings. The Ultimate Artist talent rightfully belonged to Yonaga and not to him. Still, if you were to squint and use just a little bit of imagination, you would be able to tell that Kiibo had been drawing different designs for himself.

This wasn’t to say he wasn’t fond of his current design. This was the body his creator, Professor Idabashi, had given him after all! Even so, Kiibo hoped he would have a say in what his next body should look like when he would come to outgrow his current body mentally. His mind wandered and lunch break was over before he knew it.

* * *

After class Kiibo headed to Ouma’s room in the dorms as promised. He shook his head before reluctantly knocking on Ouma’s door. To his surprise, the door wasn’t locked and his knocking made it swing open slightly.

“Ouma-kun? Akamatsu asked me to share my notes with you. Can I come in?”

No reply came. Kiibo placed a hand on the door and opened it further carefully.

Only one word came to his mind as he saw Ouma’s room for the first time. **HOARDER.** No matter where Kiibo looked, Ouma’s room was filled with junk. Papers were scattered all over the floor, towers of boxes were lined along the walls and there was stuff everywhere.

At a first glance all the items in Ouma’s room seemed to be random, but as Kiibo moved further into the room and had a good look around he started connecting dots. All the different items could be associated with his classmates.

Various _‘Wish you were here!’_ postcards and exotic souvenirs you wouldn’t be able to find in any ordinary tourist shop for Amami. Music sheets and what Kiibo could only assume to be a piano tuning set for Akamatsu. Leftover fabric and cosplay sketches for Shirogane and just so many more things which must have belonged to his classmates previously. He even noticed Saihara’s hat which had been lost for months. Kiibo shook his head as he picked up the hat from the floor. He didn’t know whether to be impressed or disturbed that Ouma had managed to collect all of these things.

It was only when Kiibo had walked even further inside that he noticed the whiteboard in Ouma’s room. The text _‘New members?’_ was written on it with a black whiteboard marker. Familiar faces were staring back at him right underneath the text. The whiteboard was filled with pictures of his classmates, all with bullet point notes and scribbles to accompany them. A few bullet points said something positive such as ‘kind’ and ‘fun’, but most of the notes where harsh. Examples would be nicknames such as ‘depression prison man’ and ‘cum dumpster’. It took Kiibo a moment to notice, but there was no picture of himself present on the whiteboard.

Kiibo’s attention was moved away from the whiteboard when he heard some movement behind him. He turned around and noticed the Ouma shaped form under the covers of the bed. Reminding himself of why he was here in the first place he approached Ouma. After seeing the state of this room he also had some questions for him he would like to have answered.

However, Kiibo had failed to notice the carefully laid out trap in the mess. After to have taken three more steps forward his right foot got stuck on something. When he looked down he noticed an invisible hanging wire stretched tightly around his foot.

Three simultaneous clicking sounds above him made him look up. Three hair blowers hung from the ceiling, each of them having a paint roller frame stuck to it with duct tape. Instead of a foam roll, all of these paint rollers had a roll of toilet paper slid on. Kiibo had only a fraction of a second to look at the trap he had set off because the now turned on hair blowers started blowing what felt like a never-ending supply of toilet paper at him.

Kiibo held up his hands defencelessly and yelped as he was assaulted. He thought of retreating, but his fear of activation more traps had him frozen to the spot. Only once he was thoroughly buried under a pile of toilet paper the hair blowers were turned off and a horse like laugh registered with him instead.

“Nee-heehee. Robots can’t even see through the most obvious traps, huh? I expected better from you at least, Kiiboy.”

Ouma’s sharp laugh returned but was quickly replaced by a bad cough. Kiibo moved all the toilet paper out of the way as best as he could and saw a slightly hunched over Supreme Leader in the middle of a coughing fit. The dark circles under Ouma’s eyes also did a lot to reinforce the idea that he was very sick. Ouma sniffled once his coughing fit was finally over and then turned his attention to his uninvited visitor.

“Did you come here to laugh at me?”

“Huh?” Kiibo momentarily stopped untangling himself from the toilet paper pile at the sudden accusation. “N-No! I wouldn’t do that… although you are pretty mean to me.”

Kiibo had expected Ouma to bring on the fake tears and call him a bully, but all he received was a half-hearted shrug. This seemed like the perfect time to tell Ouma what he was here for. Kiibo would have told him at that moment if there hadn’t been more pressing things on his mind. Kiibo managed to step out of the toilet paper pile and disapprovingly pointed at their surroundings.

“Why did you steal all this stuff?!”

“Whhhaaaatttt? Why are you accusing me? I didn’t steal anything.”

Kiibo held up Saihara’s hat, his expression unchanging. Ouma put his hands behind his head nonchalantly and smiled.

“It’s ugly. I did us all a favour.”

Taking Ouma’s comment to heart, Kiibo looked at the hat in his hand before tossing it aside into the toilet paper pile.

It was then that he managed to take a better look at what Ouma was wearing. Instead of his usual unusual outfit, he was wearing a grey fleece shirt with a slightly opened shark mouth in the middle of his chest and a horizontally striped white and grey fleece pants. The shirt was a bit too big for him, which even Kiibo could admit made for an endearing sight.

“You’re in your pyjamas,” Kiibo commented, causing Ouma to roll his eyes.

“Well, duh. I was sleeping until you barged in here. Didn’t they teach you any manners?”

“My creator raised me, but anything he didn’t teach me is self-taught as I’m a hyper-advanced artificial intelligence.”

“Figures. So what the hell did you want?”

Kiibo flinched at the curse word thrown into that sentence before opening his black, fake leather shoulder bag and taking his notebook out. Neither of them was going to like this, Kiibo thought. Akamatsu would need a lot more than just her smile to talk him into this next time.

With his notebook pressed to his chest, Kiibo watched his feet closely as he made his way over to Ouma. The few centimetres Kiibo had on Ouma became more apparent now that they were standing close to each other like this. Ouma’s face was unreadable as Kiibo offered him his notebook.

“Akamatsu-san wanted me to share my notes with you. We should go over the subject matters which were explained today together.”

Ouma was quick to take Kiibo’s notebook from him and even quicker to flip through all the pages. Ouma’s eyes went over Kiibo’s notes so hastily that Kiibo wondered if he was actually reading any of them at all. The Ultimate Supreme Leader soon arrived at perfectly blank pages, but that didn’t stop him from flipping further through the notebook. It was only once Ouma arrived at the last page and stared at it for a few moments too long that Kiibo remembered there was something in that notebook he didn’t want anyone to see.

“D-Don’t look at that!” Kiibo blurted out, already reaching for his notebook to take it back. His drawings! How could he have forgotten about his sketches for a new design?!

Ouma must have foreseen Kiibo’s sudden outburst because he closed the notebook and effortlessly danced out of Kiibo’s way. He used the notebook to hide the lower half of his face and a smug smile along with it. “Heeeh? I thought you were supposed to share your notes with me? You break my heart Kiiboy, really. Although I suppose you won’t understand such things as a heartless metal man.”

Kiibo wasn’t able to formulate any kind of reply Ouma wouldn’t make fun of in this flustered state. Saving himself some extra embarrassment, Kiibo didn’t speak as he tried to take his notebook back again. However, even while being severely sick Ouma was still too fast for him. Their strange cat and mouse chase went on for a few moments before Kiibo accepted his defeat.

“Given the circumstance… I will allow you to copy my notes, but I will need that notebook back.”

There were stars in Ouma’s eyes as he jumped off his bed and landed in front of Kiibo. The Ultimate Supreme Leader stood on his toes and brought their faces way closer to each other than Kiibo was comfortable with.

“It will be in mint condition when I return it to you tomorrow. I promise.”

Kiibo had learnt quickly that any promises Ouma made should be taken with a grain of salt. As such he figured he would probably get his notebook back, but its condition would be a surprise. “Fine.”

Despite just having promised that Kiibo’s notebook would be alright, Ouma tossed it at his cluttered desk. Kiibo frowned and opened his mouth to say something when a high-pitched sneeze suddenly escaped Ouma. His whole body shuddered as the sneezes kept coming. Kiibo watched him with concern and mild curiosity.

Ouma stared at Kiibo with tired eyes once he finally managed to stop sneezing. He sniffled and wiped his nose on the end of his sleeve before weakly gesturing at the door. “You can go now.”

“But what about–”

“Just _go_ ,” Ouma interrupted him, sounding irritated.

There were many more questions Kiibo had wanted to ask (especially about the contents of Ouma’s room), but now that Ouma was telling him to leave he had no more reason to stay. He simply nodded before turning on his heel and heading for the door. He could hear Ouma shuffle about behind him, but Kiibo didn’t look back.

“Get well soon…?” Kiibo said in a hushed voice. A groan came from under the covers of Ouma’s bed before Kiibo closed the door behind him.

* * *

The next day Kiibo found his notebook on his desk in mint condition. Or, well, it was in mint condition in one sense of the word.

“Wh-What the hell?!” Iruma loudly proclaimed, pinching her nose with one hand and picking up Kiibo’s notebook by a corner of its cover with the other. “The fuck did you do to this?!”

“Ah, Iruma-san!”

Kiibo immediately rose from his chair and he snatched his notebook from her hands. An overwhelming mint odour came from the notebook, which arguably was the worst if you could detect smell via your hands and you were currently holding it. Kiibo dropped the notebook on his desk again and waved his hands to get the smell off them.

“Please don’t touch it. I lent it to Ouma-kun yesterday and I don’t know what has happened to it since then.”

A look of disgust crossed Iruma’s face before shifting to a look of disinterest. “Pipsqueak huh? Keh! He thought he could spray this with a mint refresher and have it last? Miss me with that weak shit. I would have built–”

“Ouma-kun isn’t here at the moment, but please don’t give him any ideas,” Kiibo begged, afraid that the Ultimate Supreme Leader was somehow listening in on this conversation. Now that he thought about it, how had his notebook mysterious made it to his desk in the first place if Ouma was still sick in bed? “Did anyone see Ouma-kun?”

“Gonta asked to bring notebook, but he not make notebook smell bad. Gonta promise!”

It wouldn’t be the first time Ouma made Gokuhara go on errands. Kiibo had often wondered if he should warn Gokuhara about Ouma’s intentions, but if he was honest with himself he didn’t even know what those intentions were. At least Gokuhara seemed to enjoy himself while helping Ouma out.

“I believe you, Gokuhara-kun,” Kiibo said apologetically.

A familiar tune played to signal the start of their first class, abruptly ending their conversation. Everyone went to their seats and their teacher began calling out names to write down today’s attendance.

The mint smell quickly wore off, as Iruma had predicted, which made handling his notebook a lot easier. Fearing what he would find inside, Kiibo carefully flipped through the whole thing. He had expected to find vulgar comments or, even worse, his notes scribbled out, but other than the assault on his sense of smell he found nothing strange. That was until he arrived at the second to last page.

Kiibo “blinked” as he stared at the page. On it, there was a pencil sketch… of him. The drawing wasn’t exactly accurate, but the additional notes Ouma had written down on the design helped to sketch the image in Kiibo’s mind.

Essentially the design was similar to Kiibo’s current one with a few upgrades and gadgets added. The things which stood out the most to him were the jetpack on his back and the laser gun for his right arm. There were also lasers coming out of his eyes which seemed like a bit of an over-kill, but the comment _‘pew pew pew!’_ next to them made Kiibo think that he shouldn’t take that feature too seriously.

Underneath the big sketch were a few more random scribbles and the text: _‘you will never be a real boy so try being a robot instead’._ Kiibo wasn’t quite sure why, but reading that… hurt. A real boy or a robot… Couldn’t he be both? He was a robot and he was incurably proud of that, but at the same time, he was a person.

“Are you still with us, Kiibo?” his teacher addressed him directly.

Flustered, Kiibo closed his notebook and started paying attention. “Y-Yes! My apologies.”

The teacher gave him a single nod of approval before turning back to the board and continuing her explanation. He carefully opened his notebook again on the second to last page. There was one last comment he hadn’t noticed before he got interrupted. Upon reading it his gears started turning.

_‘this one doesn’t need a dick’._


	2. A Coffee Date and the Art of Loving Yourself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiibo starts doubting himself after reading the crude comment Kokichi left on his new design for him and some of his classmates take notice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter is here! This chapter took me a while to write because it turned out more philosophical than I intended it to be, but I hope it will make for an enjoyable read nevertheless.

_‘this one doesn’t need a dick’._ Ouma’s final comment on his design stuck with Kiibo for a long time. No matter where Kiibo was or what he was doing, in the back of his mind he was trying to decipher what that comment meant and, more importantly, what it meant to him.

After the “mint condition” notebook prank Ouma had pulled on him, Akamatsu hadn’t approached Kiibo again to ask him to share his notes with Ouma. Instead, she had taken up the task herself, but to no avail. Ouma wouldn’t open his door for anyone. It had been two days and he was still sick, presumably. It was concerning, but there was nothing they could do if he refused their help.

Despite Ouma’s absence (or perhaps because of his absence), the classroom was buzzy with laughter and chatter. Amami had returned from his trip to the Dominican Republic and everyone was eager to hear his stories. Especially Shinguji was very interested in Amami’s experiences abroad, even going as far as writing down notes on anything cultural that came up.

Kiibo was sitting at his desk, the conversation of his classmates no more than background noise. His mind was elsewhere as he found himself staring at the second to last page of his notebook again. It bothered him how he couldn’t pinpoint the feeling Ouma’s drawing gave him.

“Good morning, Kiibo-kun,” Amami greeted him, walking over to his desk with one hand up in the air. Kiibo looked up from his notebook and noticed the group conversation had dispensed. Amami alone had come to talk to him.

“Good morning, Amami-kun. How was your trip to the Dominican Republic?”

Although Amami obviously had been asked that question before it didn’t seem to bother him. He put his forefinger and thumb to his chin as if deep in thought before giving Kiibo his answer.

“Rice, chicken and beans.”

“…I don’t understand.”

Amami dropped his serious façade and laughed. “I was just telling the others how I’ve been eating a lot of rice, chicken and beans while I was over there. It’s an interesting place with kind people who are always happy to strike up a conversation no matter where you are from.”

“I’m happy to hear you had a good time,” Kiibo replied, feeling a little bit bad about missing out on the experiences Amami had shared just a moment ago.

Now that Kiibo had a better look at Amami he saw that the Ultimate Adventurer had gotten a natural tan. He could only imagine the amount of sunscreen and other skin care products which Amami had used during his trip. Amami always took great care of himself and his appearance.

“It’s been a while since we got to talk,” Amami noted. “If you’re free after class would you like to go on a coffee date with me? My treat.”

Amami’s offer confused Kiibo. It wouldn’t be the first time that Amami would suggest to hang out together, but this suggestion didn’t make any sense.

"You are aware that I cannot consume food or drinks, correct?" Kiibo asked, concern in his voice. Amami hadn’t been abroad long enough for him to forget about Kiibo’s robotic nature.

“That’s what makes you the perfect coffee date.”

Amami winked at Kiibo, but unfortunately, his joke flew right over the robot’s head. Question marks appeared on Kiibo’s collar causing Amami to snigger. He put his hands up as if surrendering to Kiibo’s inability to get a joke.

“I was just thinking it would be nice to catch up. We can meet up in the courtyard if you prefer.”

“No, it’s fine. You may not be able to treat me, but you should at the very least treat yourself.”

Amami smiled at him which made Kiibo smile back at him in turn. From day one Amami had treated Kiibo with the respect he deserved. Although Kiibo wasn’t fully comfortable calling Amami his friend yet, he was grateful they got along.

“It’s a coffee date, then.”

* * *

“It’s very hot and humid in the Dominican Republic,” Amami explained, seemingly unbothered by the attention they were getting in the small, cosy coffeehouse. “It’s especially humid in cities because there are always plenty of people out and about. Outside of the cities, you can find beautiful tropical landscapes. Here, I will show you.”  


Amami took out his smartphone and navigated through the device for a moment before handing it over to Kiibo. Surely enough there was a stunning picture of a tropical forest on the screen. Amami told Kiibo to swipe through his pictures and so Kiibo did. There was a good balance between wide shots of the forest and close-ups of flora and fauna. Amami spoke up again when Kiibo arrived at a picture of himself posing in front of a dazzling waterfall.

“I went on a waterfall tour. These pictures don’t do the waterfalls I saw justice, but I wanted to try and capture the moment.”

Kiibo swiped through some more pictures, each of them showing another beautiful view and in some cases an Amami who was clearly in his element. There was a smile on Kiibo’s face when he returned Amami’s smartphone.

“The places you have visited are very beautiful. Did you manage to find what you were looking for?”

Amami didn’t immediately answer Kiibo’s question. There was a look on Amami’s face Kiibo couldn’t place as Amami stared at the screen in his hands. Amami blinked before putting his smartphone away and devoting his full attention to Kiibo again.

“Not yet, but I will keep travelling around the world until I find… it.”

Even Kiibo could tell there was more to this than Amami was sharing, but he didn’t ask him to elaborate. If anything Kiibo was grateful Amami had already felt comfortable enough around him to share he was travelling around the world for a reason.

“I hope you will find what you are looking for next time.”

Amami smiled with his eyes as he began to stir his coffee. Kiibo had nothing to keep his hands busy with so he folded them on the table instead.

This was his first time in a coffeehouse. Kiibo liked it here despite not being able to consume any of the items on the menu. The place had a rustic atmosphere and relaxing music was playing in the background. The coffeehouse also wasn’t too big, which meant that although people were staring at him there were fewer people confused by his existence than usual.

He was having a good time and yet there was that one thought in the back of his mind.

_‘this one doesn’t need a dick’._

Kiibo didn’t know why Ouma’s comment bothered him so much, but it kept nagging him. He should be enjoying his time with Amami in this pleasant coffeehouse. Instead, he was breaking his head over something that didn’t need to be solved.

“Something happened to you while I was abroad,” Amami suddenly said, catching Kiibo off guard. Amami moved his cup to his lips and drank his coffee before continuing. “You can tell me what happened if you think that will make you feel better. Sometimes just talking about what is bothering you helps, y’know?”

Kiibo began fidgeting in his seat, avoiding Amami’s strong, knowing gaze. Showing his notebook and explaining what had happened would be embarrassing, but the alternative was for him to keep struggling with this all on his own.

“A-Alright…” Kiibo replied, taking his notebook out of his shoulder bag. He placed the notebook on the table for Amami to take. Amami placed his cup down and curiously picked up the notebook. He raised an eyebrow as he brought the notebook closer to have a better look.

“I detect a faint smell of… mint?”

“It’s not about that! Please look at the second to last page.”

Amami still had his eyebrow raised up, but did as he was instructed. As soon as he found the page Kiibo had mentioned he placed the open notebook on the table. He stared at it for a moment before turning the notebook to its last page. There was a slight frown on his face as he went back and forth between Ouma’s sketch and Kiibo’s sketches. Finally, Amami leaned back in his chair and put his hands together.

“The laser eyes are a bit too much and it wasn’t nice of him to write that you will never be a “real boy”, but I don’t think Ouma-kun meant any harm with this. What about this bothers you?”

“Ouma-kun’s comment on the bottom of the page does,” Kiibo replied, twiddling his thumbs.

Amami’s eyes went to the bottom of the page, causing him to make a soft ‘Ah’ sound. He rubbed the back of his head as he tried to think of the right thing to say. Taking a deep breath, he leaned forward and folded his hands as he rested them on the table.

“This... pains me to ask, but… do you…..?” Amami intentionally left part of his question unspoken. Even the most mature person form Kiibo’s class still had a difficult time asking what had been dubbed _the_ taboo question.

Kiibo stared deep into Amami’s eyes for a moment before slowly shaking his head. Amami nodded in understanding. He leaned back in his chair again and crossed his arms.

“This is what I think. Ouma’s obsession with the possibility that you could have genitalia was, in some sense, him being open to the idea that you could have intercourse and connect to a human being in such a way. While being able to have intercourse isn’t the only thing which makes us human it certainly is a part of it. By writing that you won’t need genitalia if you were to lean into your robotic nature, it implies that he wants you to stop pretending to be human. Because you have no genitalia, this hit you even harder than it otherwise would have.”

Amami rubbed the corners of his eyes. He then shook his head and downed the rest of his coffee before giving Kiibo a sympathetic look. “Or maybe it’s not that deep. It could be a crude joke and nothing more. I think you know him better than I do, and you know yourself better than anyone. What do you think?”

Kiibo had stayed awfully quiet through Amami’s explanation. Despite the topics which had been brought up Kiibo’s face wasn’t red. Instead, his face was cold and calculating. He thought of the right words to say before answering Amami’s question.

“I can’t speak for Ouma because I don’t know his intentions, but I do think what you said was the reason I was feeling… off. I will think on this by myself some more. Thank you Amami-kun.”

A smile graced Amami’s face once more. “You’re welcome. You can always come talk to me if something is bothering you. Oh, right. I will be keeping your secret safe as well.”

“Please do!” A faint blush appeared on Kiibo’s cheeks. “It never bothered me before I started attending Hope’s Peak, but because of Ouma-kun that question has been on everyone’s mind… at least once.”

“Probably more than once.”

“…Twice?”  


Amami chuckled at Kiibo’s innocence. “Let’s keep it at that.”

* * *

After their coffee date, Amami and Kiibo had taken the metro back to Hope’s Peak. The unusual pair got a lot of attention from strangers, but neither of them seemed to mind as they both had their own reason for being used to being stared at. Once they had arrived at school grounds they had said their goodbyes and gone separate ways.

Kiibo felt better after talking with Amami. He had sorted his feelings out to some extent, which made him feel a little bit better about himself as he headed for the dorms. One his way there he ran into a familiar face.

"Nyahahaha! Our paths crossed, just as Atua foretold! Divine!” Angie beamed, making her appearance with her hands pressed together above her head.

“Good afternoon, Yonaga-san. I wasn’t aware that Atua could predict the future.”

“Atua sees everything. Atua knows everything. I wished to see you and Atua was as kind as to let that happen.”

“You wanted to see me?” Kiibo asked, surprised yet delighted. He stood a little bit taller then as he put his hands on his hips and straightened his back. Of course Yonaga wanted to see him! He was great, after all.

“Come with me to the Art Room. I need you for my next art piece.”

Although Kiibo was always happy to help he wasn’t sure how he could assist Yonaga with this. His confusion showed in his delayed reply. “Certainly! What would you have me do?”

Yonaga clasped her hands together, her wide smile skilfully hiding her intentions.

“Offer blood, of course! You are a special case so Atua will make an exception for you. Only you may offer blood that isn’t yours.”

“Y-Yonaga-san!” Kiibo jumped back and put up his hands in the air at Yonaga’s request. He nervously looked around and spotted a few Main Course students going about their day, seemingly unbothered by this development. That could only mean they hadn’t heard Yonaga, right?

"Nyahahaha! You’re so jumpy, Kiibo. I was only joking. I need you for something else, but it will be easier to explain in the Art Room. Follow me.”

Yonaga turned around and began skipping. There was a joyful bounce to every step she took. It fascinated Kiibo in a strange way. He caught himself thinking Yonaga’s skipping looked fun and that he should attempt it as well if he found himself in a good mood. Grasping the strap of his shoulder bag tightly, he followed after her.

They didn’t run into anyone from their class as they headed for their destination. The door to the Art Room had been locked because classes were already over, but that hadn’t stopped Yonaga from getting in. She had the key to the Art Room. Any Ultimate with a good reason to need a key to a specific room was sure to get one.

There had been talk of building labs for the Main Course students to further develop their talents in. Hope's Peak Academy had enough funds to make such a thing a reality, but if Kiibo were to believe the rumours then Headmaster Kirigiri had done everything in his power to have those funds go to improving the Reserve Course instead.

Once inside the Art Room, Yonaga gambolled by the desks, some easels and even a few bust statues without a care in the world. Kiibo was a bit more careful as he navigated around all the breakable objects in the room. To his surprise, Yonaga came to a stop in front of the storage room and began fiddling with a second key. He assumed she needed access to the room to get some materials, but she gestured for him to come inside with her.

Although Kiibo rarely came into the art storage room he could tell that things had changed since his last visit. A large collection of paint tins, brushes, hammers and other art and sculpting tools was now occupying most of the space. “Are these yours? Did you place them here after getting permission?”

“Yes and yes. If I tried storing all my tools here without permission I wouldn’t hear the end of it from Kiyotaka.”

Yonaga had placed two stools in the middle of the room on top of a blue tarp in the time Kiibo had been looking around. She gathered a few paint tins around one stool and placed a variety of brushes on the floor in hand’s reach from the stool as well. She opened the paint tins before sitting down on the stool and making clear with her body language that she expected him to take his place on the other one. Kiibo took off his shoulder bag and placed it close to the door before taking the seat.

“Alright, so here is what I was thinking,” Angie began explaining herself. She picked up a brush from the floor and dipped it into a yellow paint pin. Some of the paint dripped off the tip of her brush and onto the blue tarp as she pointed it at Kiibo. “You will be my canvas today.”

“Wh-What?!”

Kiibo leaned back to stop the distance between his chest and Yonaga’s brush from becoming smaller. Not wanting to hurt her feelings, he avoided her gaze as he continued.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Why would Atua ask you do to such a thing?”

“Atua didn’t ask… I think.”

Artificial sweat ran down Kiibo’s temples as his gaze shifted back to Angie. The end of her brush softly poked her cheek and her lips were pressed together.

“You think?”

“Yes, yes. I won't be channelling Him today. I want to do this.”

Some of the yellow paint dripped on Yonaga’s leg, but she didn't seem bothered by it. Kiibo stared at the paintbrush as he tried to predict Yonaga’s actions by comparing her behaviour patterns in his memory bank. He concluded that if there was a bigger reason to all of this that Yonaga probably even wasn’t aware of it herself.

“…Very well, you may use me as your canvas today. That is, as long as the paint is washable?”

Those words had barely left his mouth before Yonaga’s brush had made contact with his chest. Kiibo could only hope this meant that the paint was washable or he would have a lot to explain to Professor Idabashi later.

Kiibo sat perfectly still as Yonaga painted dots and swirly lines on him in bright, saturated colours. She applied the paint thickly, masterfully covering up the dark grey of his uniform evenly. Her organic brush strokes transformed Kiibo’s geometric chest into something… different.

“Have you noticed the change?” Yonaga asked, her voice abnormally level and soft. She gestured to Kiibo to give her his arm. He offered it to her and she grasped it lightly with her free hand before going in with her brush. “You’re acting as my medium now. I act as Atua’s medium all the time so I’m used to it, but it must be a bit strange for you.”

“…It’s strange, but not unpleasant.”

Yonaga smiled at that in a way Kiibo hadn’t seen her smile before. She seemed more serene and open, her usual loud and overenthusiastic persona gone in this moment.

“I have a question for you, Kiibo. Where would you say the line that devices us is? What separates me from you? Or you from this paint?”

Kiibo’s hand twitched slightly as Yonaga began to paint the inside of his hand. Unlike the rest of his body, he had many touch sensors there which picked up on the sensation of the hairs of the brush tracing his “skin” perfectly.

“Is… Is that a trick question?” Kiibo asked, uncertain of what Yonaga was expecting from him.

“Nope! Just a question I think about often. Did you know? There is this theory that babies cry when they see someone else get hurt because they can’t differentiate themselves from others. They still have to develop their self-awareness so they don’t know where they ‘end’ and the outer world ‘begins’.”

Yonaga turned Kiibo’s hand over and began painting the back of his hand. Kiibo watched as the organic shapes on his body grew and evolved. Yonaga’s strokes might seem random, but they were with purpose. Kiibo could tell she was trying to recreate an image in her mind.

“I didn’t know that,” Kiibo confessed. “I cannot answer your question at this time. I will do research on this topic and cross-reference any results–”

“I’m not interested in that. Give me your answer.”

Feeling put on the spot, Kiibo’s face heated up slightly. He had often thought of the difference between himself and others, but he couldn’t say he had specifically thought of this question before. Yonaga tirelessly continued painting him as he silently thought of an answer.

“I suppose… seeing as I am only able to perceive this world through my sensors, I only extend as far as their range.”

“I see, I see. Hmm, yes. You are saying that you don’t exist beyond your senses. That’s an interesting thought, but I wonder…” Yonaga leaned forward, a shadow falling over her face as her light blue eyes stared deep into Kiibo’s. “Everyone’s senses have become extendable, have they not? Technology has allowed us to see further, hear further. It is just a matter of time before our touch, smell and taste can be extended also.”

Kiibo didn’t flinch when Yonaga’s brush made contact with his cheek. She moved his hair out of the way as she brought the finishing touches to her art piece. Kiibo had taken notice of how she seemed to only paint over one side of his body. His face was no different, as her brush rarely crossed over the imaginary line dividing him in half.

“And you, you could take this even further. You have the potential to become all-seeing, all-knowing.” Yonaga leaned back and then, suddenly, threw her hands up in the air and dropped her brush. “Or so Atua says! Nyahahaha! He is expecting great things from you. Divine!”

Just like that Yonaga was back to being her normal loud and overenthusiastic self. She rose from her stool and happily approached a tall, rectangular shaped object leaning against a wall. She dramatically removed the white cloth which had been draped over the object to reveal a mirror. Kiibo knew what was expected of him without Yonaga needing to say anything.

Kiibo felt nervous as he approached the mirror, but once he stood in front of it his fear subsided. The person he saw staring back at him was only half familiar. Save from his legs, hair and backside, Yonaga had painted over the entirety of his right half. The organic shapes she had painted on him were colourful, loud and in stark contrast with the geometrical shapes that made up the rest of his body.

“Any thoughts on my work?” Yonaga asked as she appeared next to Kiibo in the mirror. “This is the first time I have tried making art myself, which makes it my best piece by default.”

Some dried up paint cracked and tiny pieces fell to the floor as Kiibo reached for the mirror and touched his reflection. Yonaga’s Ultimate Artist talent shone through here because for the very first time Kiibo felt that he understood what the artist was trying to convey to him through their art. He turned to face the real Yonaga, not the one in the mirror, and spoke from his “heart”.

“It’s unfinished but no less beautiful.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, you're reading this right. Kokichi didn't appear in this chapter (sad). I hope to make up for that in the next chapter. Please look forward to it! In the meantime, thank you for reading the second chapter of my fic. If you have any ideas where this story could go next I would love to hear them!


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